08.03.2022 – Mother ocean

International women’s day is about celebrating the female gender and generally acknowledging the importance of equity in society. Our team loves to use the opportunity to highlight female roles in cetacean communities during our tours but also loves to express its general admiration for the mother of all mothers on our planet: our ocean. She covers around 70% of the earths surface and her waters were the womb where life was first created on earth. And like a mother, she maintains the balance in the lives of all who depend on her, despite several of them being complicit in her destruction. She continues to give and we continue to take.

Even if she is as generous as they come, our mother ocean doesn’t always make it easy for us. Finding cetaceans at sea largely depends on their presence and, in turn, that presence depends on the health of the ecosystem they thrive in. This is a reality we feel our guests must be confronted with and sometimes it is well demonstrated in our difficulty to find animals at sea. This morning our team had trouble tracking down and remaining with the dispersed nursery group of Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that was heading east with the swell. The animals remained set on their course and kept their distance, which prompted us to attempt a sighting with a pod of Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). These small, beautiful dolphins also had calves with them and were equally evasive with our boat but our guests loved the encounter nonetheless!

Madeiras deep sheltered waters are a sort of safe haven for oceanic dolphins with calves in tow, and many of the animals seeking this temporary refuge with their young prefer not to be disturbed. This is why most of the groups contain calves tend to react evasively towards boats. That, however, was definitely not the case fo the enormous nursery pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis). The mothers darted towards our bow, in the species usual interactive manner, and enjoyed a little bow-ride together with their calves. The sighting was just a preset for more encounters including a pod of Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) that also contained a calf, some interactive Bottlenose adults near Calheta and a group of hunting Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis).

These encounters were appreciated by all on board and we hope that, on this women’s day, our guests all left our zodiac with a bit more love and appreciation for our mother ocean.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Stenella

10:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Striped dolphins

15:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins, Blainville’s beaked whales, Short-beaked common dolphins